Research shows that you should let consumers’ photos speak for your business

 The advance of technology and the widespread adoption of smartphones and handheld devices in recent years have enabled us to publish our experience about a product or service through online photo or video sharing and provide a review.

Online review websites have also updated their features, making it easier for consumers to attach pictures or videos to their reviews. As both consumers and businesses adapt to the new photo-sharing trend, it becomes crucial to expand our knowledge regarding user-generated photos’ (UGPs’) effect on online reviews.

An empirical study about user-generated photos

I worked with a research team in an interdisciplinary project to assess UGPs’ effects on the helpfulness of hotel reviews. We published our findings in the Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Research. The paper is entitled “Let photos speak: The effect of user-generated visual content on hotel review helpfulness.”

The hypotheses

We drew from the media richness theory and advanced five hypotheses for statistical analysis, including:

1. Online reviews attached with UGPs have significant positive effects on review helpfulness.
2. Online reviews attached with UGPs containing more guestroom objects are rated as more helpful than those containing fewer guestroom objects.
3. Online reviews attached with UGPs containing more F&B (food & beverage) objects are rated more helpful than those containing fewer F&B objects.
4. UGPs’ positive effect on review helpfulness is stronger for lower-priced hotels than higher-priced hotels.
5. UGPs’ positive effects on review helpfulness are stronger for negative reviews than positive reviews.

The data and the analysis

We used a Python-based web crawler to collect the data needed for hypothesis testing from Qunar.com, one of the largest online travel agent (OTA) sites in mainland China. The data covered 12,138 hotels in Beijing, with about 1.16 million valid reviews and over 464,000 photos published by close to 900,000 users between January 2014 and April 2018. In this sample, about 9.84% (114,000) reviews were attached with UGPs.

We adopted YOLOv3 (You Only Look Once version 3), a real-time object detection algorithm, to identify the guestroom and F&B objects in UGPs. The top 10 guestroom objects identified include bed (15.34%), chair (14.55%), TV (6.23%), sink, toilet, couch, clock, remote control, refrigerator, and laptop.

The top 10 F&B objects included bottle (8.45%), cup (4.39%), bowl (2.82%), dining table, microwave, spoon, wine glass, oven, cake, and knife. Compiling with other numerical data, such as the number of helpfulness votes a review received, star rating of a review, etc., we then tested the hypotheses in a series of linear regression models.

The results

Our analyses confirmed the user-generated visual content’s positive effects on review helpfulness. Moreover, consumers rated UGPs with more product-specific images more helpful than those with fewer product-specific images (guestroom or F&B objects for a lodging product in this case). Such a positive effect becomes more salient for lower-priced hotels (than higher-priced hotels) and reviews with lower ratings (than reviews with higher ratings).

What do the research findings mean?

Besides this study’s theoretical contributions, the research findings provide a few specific practical implications for hotel managers, web admins managing online review platforms, and the consumers relying on online reviews for decision-making. Here, it is imperative to note that the following actionable suggestions are exclusive content only available in this viewpoint article but not in the original journal publication.

Hotel managers

• Strategically respond to selected reviews with UGPs.
• Respond to most, if not all, reviews with more guestroom objects in UGPs.
• For hotels with various F&B offerings, respond to the reviews with more F&B objects in UGPs.
• It is unnecessary for hotels with limited F&B offerings to pay attention to the reviews with F&B objects in UGPs.
• For hotels of a lower price, make every attempt to answer reviews with UGPs.
• Make sure to respond to reviews of lower ratings and with UGPs.

Web admins in online review platforms

• List those consumer reviews with UGPs at the top, allowing easy access for potential customers.
• Promote the reviews with more guestroom objects in UGPs, regardless of how many F&B offerings a hotel has.
• Promote the reviews with UGPs containing more F&B objects for the hotels with various F&B offerings.
• Cross-list or promote the reviews with more F&B objects in UGPs for the hotels even when internet users search for restaurant reviews.
• It is unnecessary to promote reviews with F&B objects in UGPs for the hotels with minimal F&B offerings.
• Highlight the reviews with UGPs, especially for the hotels of a lower price.
• Display the ones with UGPs first when internet users want to check out the negative reviews.

Consumers using online review websites

• Pay attention to the information conveyed in the reviews with UGPs in general.
• Pay even more attention to the reviews with UGPs that show more guestroom objects.
• Quickly skip the online reviews with UGPs showing more F&B objects if a hotel has limited F&B offerings or if the traveler does not plan to use the F&B services offered in the hotel.
• Pay attention to the reviews with UGPs that show more F&B objects only when the traveler also wants to use the hotel’s F&B services.
• In a search for hotels of a lower price, make sure to check out the reviews with UGPs carefully.
• When browsing through a hotel’s reviews for decision-making, pay special attention to those reviews of lower ratings and with UGPs.

The conclusion

Although our work is not without limitations, our analysis with an integrated analytical model that incorporates both econometric analysis and image-processing techniques yielded additional insights about user-generated visual content’s effect on online reviews. Once again, this study shows that a picture is indeed worth a thousand words.

How much attention do you pay to the pictures or videos attached to online reviews? Are those reviews attached with pictures or videos more influential in your decision-making? If so, in what way?

Note: This post was first published on MultiBriefs.com; The picture was also downloaded from MultiBriefs.com. 

How job seekers’ social media profiles affect employability: Evidence from a research study

 

Social media plays an increasingly important role in recruitment and employee selection. Recruiters are tempted to check on job candidates’ social media profiles (SMPs) because SMPs could reveal more dynamic information about the candidates than their resumes alone. 

By checking the candidates’ SMPs, recruiters can discover their real personality, which cannot be easily achieved even through job interviews. Meanwhile, hiring managers can also assess job candidates’ social capital based on the size and the composition of their social networks.  

The study

 

To investigate how social media may affect recruiters’ hiring decisions, Antonio Muñiz, who graduated from the master’s program at the Collins College of Hospitality Management, Cal Poly Pomona, and I conducted a qualitative study together. We published our work in the Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Management. This research answers:     

The two research questions

 

1. What information or job candidate’s personality traits revealed on their SMPs gets the hiring managers’ attention?  
2. How do such information or job candidates’ personality traits revealed on their SMPs affect managers’ hiring decisions?

 

The research method

 

We conducted 11 semi-structured interviews in 2018 with 11 managers in major hospitality companies, representing the restaurant, hotel, country club, even planning, and managed foodservice sectors. On average, these 11 managers had 19 years of work experience in the hospitality industry. They made hiring decisions, ranging from hiring two to 18 candidates a month. Following the suggestions of ensuring a qualitative study’s trustworthiness, we firstly recorded and transcribed the interviews. We then performed a content analysis of the qualitative data. Finally, we reported the narrative results with direct quotes from the informants. 

 

Finding 1: The recruiting channels and legal considerations

 

The informants rated Indeed and LinkedIn the preferred websites for recruitment and selection. Surprisingly, none of them were aware of any policies issued by their companies about using social media in screening and selection. Many informants also held reservations about using social media in screening because of privacy concerns, the uncertainty of the information revealed from the candidates’ SMPs, legal compliance, and time constraints. 

 

Finding 2: LinkedIn is the preferred platform

 

About half of the informants used LinkedIn in screening. Only one informant admitted that s/he screened candidates’ other SMPs besides LinkedIn. That is, s/he also looked at candidates’ posts, videos, and pictures on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. 

 

Finding 3: The preferable content on social media

 

Most informants favored pictures about food, catering, and events, news articles, and organizational social activities. Having a clear headshot/smiling, professional/appropriate content, positive/motivational content, and activities in general were mentioned once or twice only. 

 

Finding 4: The unfavorable content on social media

 

Inappropriate language or content, negative posts, personal information on LinkedIn, and anything discriminatory came to the top. 

 

Finding 5: The influential traits that may affect recruiters’ hiring decisions

 

Of the Big Five personality traits, hospitality managers looked for extroversion, conscientiousness, and agreeableness. Additionally, leadership potentials, professionalism, a good match, the current position held, as well as skills and endorsements, can be influential. 

 

Finding 6: How candidates’ SMPs affect employability

 

Unfavorable content seemed to have a more substantial influence than favorable content. As far as a candidate’s starting salary is concerned, the informants only factored in the candidates’ skills and experience. 

 

The implications

 

Besides the research’s theoretical contributions, the findings provide helpful, practical implications for businesses, hiring managers, job seekers, and career counselors. We recommend: 

 

• Organizations should develop clear guidelines about using social media in recruitment and selection. 
• For a minimum, Organizations must provide guidelines or assessment rubrics that are specific to LinkedIn. 
• Hiring managers are advised to follow the company’s guidelines and policies if provided. 
• Hiring managers need to justify why and how SMPs are used in screening if no guidelines or policies are provided. 
• Job seekers are highly encouraged to build a complete LinkedIn profile with a professional picture that projects their personality. 
• Job seekers may consider sharing favorable content and should avoid the unfavorable content on their SMPs. 
• If possible, job seekers should have their LinkedIn profile and other SMPS critiqued by their friends, co-workers, and career advisors, as what they would do on their resumes and other application materials. 
• Career counselors should teach job seekers how to build professional SMPs, with specific examples of how they may strategically display the desired content favored by recruiters. 

 

Do job seekers need even more impeccable social media profiles during the pandemic? 

 

This study was conducted in 2018 before the pandemic hit the economy with numerous long-term effects. Nevertheless, I expect that job seekers’ SMPs may play an even more significant role in influencing recruiters’ hiring decisions for two reasons. On the one hand, more people are forced to leave their jobs, making it more challenging to secure a job offer in a competitive job market. On the other hand, more companies let their employees work from home permanently. The traditional screening methods, such as face-to-face job interviews in the workplace, may no longer be an option for hiring managers. 

 

Back in May 2020, it is reported that 84% of recruiters were adapting to new hiring practices that facilitate remote exchanges. Among them, 58% used LinkedIn, Facebook, and even Instagram to connect with potential hires. It is also believed that job candidates’ digital presence will matter even more in 2021 and beyond. 

 

Lastly, it is important to note that the above results were generated from 11 qualitative interviews. Although we took careful measures to ensure this qualitative inquiry’s trustworthiness, the results may not be generalized in other settings. Instead, this study’s strength relies on its in-depth, narrative results reported by those purposefully selected informants who have abundant first-hand experience of screening job candidates. 

Do you believe that people’s digital reputation is critical in a job search? How important are job candidates’ SMPs in helping them secure a job offer? 

Note: This post is also available on MultiBriefs.com; the picture was downloaded from ConstructionExec.com. 

The 7 Ps marketing mix of home-sharing services: What did the 1 million Airbnb reviews inform us?

The 7 Ps marketing mix framework is a widely used managerial tool that helps businesses identify the principal components of a service product. The 7 P elements include Product, Promotion, Price, Place, Participant, Physical Evidence, and Process.

The 7 Ps framework can assist marketers in making decisions regarding segmentation, positioning, and differentiation. Even for the same type of products with different brands, marketers can still drive higher sales through the improvement of a product’s marketing mix.  

The empirical study about 7 Ps of home-sharing services

Building upon the 7 Ps marketing mix framework, I led a research team in a big-data, supervised machine learning analysis of over 1.14 million English reviews of 37,092 Airbnb listings in San Francisco (SFO) and New York City (NYC). We aimed to discover new meaningful business intelligence through the analysis of an immense quantity of online review information that is created by consumers in the cyber marketplace.

We published the research in the International Journal of Hospitality Management. The report can also be accessed in the Elsevier Public Health Emergency Collection.  

The three research questions of the study

1.    What does the marketing mix revealed from consumers’ online review data on Airbnb inform us about travelers’ experience of home-sharing products?

2.    Do travelers comment on the similar element(s) of the marketing mix for their home-sharing stays with multi-unit and single-unit hosts? In other words, do travelers share similar experiences for their home-sharing stays with multi-unit vs. single-unit hosts through a comparison of the two product types’ marketing mix?

3.    Do travelers comment on the similar element(s) of the marketing mix for their home-sharing stays with superhosts and ordinary hosts? In other words, do travelers share similar experiences for their home-sharing stays with superhosts vs. ordinary hosts through a comparison of the two product types’ marketing mix?

The data and the analysis

We downloaded the data from InsideAirbnb.com, an independent, non-profit website that provides publicly accessible data collected from Airbnb.com. We picked SFO, for its being a gateway city in the West Coast and Airbnb’s birthplace, as well as NYC, for its being a gateway city in the East Coast and a top tourist destination. We downloaded 233,070 reviews of 4,381 Airbnb listings in SFO and 1,047,337 reviews of 32,985 Airbnb listings in NYC in September/October 2018.

We then cleaned the dataset by removing all non-English reviews, retrieving 94.3% (219,833) and 88.6% (928,229) of the reviews that were written in English from the SFO and NYC markets, respectively. We used a sentence as a unit for data annotation under the assumption that people usually express one idea in one sentence.

Through a series of preliminary analyses, we concluded that most sentences expressed one of the elements in our coding schema, with about 3% of the sentences mentioned two or more of the elements. In the cases when a sentence can be labeled with more than one element, the most probable element was used in our analysis.  

7 Ps marketing mix as the coding schema

We trained the model to annotate the sentences using the following coding schema before we applied the validated algorithms to analyze the whole dataset.

·      Service Product (PT) – words that describe the overall impression of the intangible experiential product, e.g., “A great experience.”

·      Price (PR) – words that indicate the price or value of the experiential product, e.g., “Rather than renting two hotel rooms, we split this 2-bed Airbnb and probably saved $300 per night.”

·      Place (PL) – words referring to the location of a listing, e.g., “Short walk to the Bart station.”

·      Promotion (PO) – words comparing what the traveler(s) observed against a listing’s photos or descriptions on the website, e.g., “The place was exactly as advertised!”

·      Participant (PP) – words mentioning the host(s) or people/pets in the listing, e.g., “The hosts were also extremely friendly and accommodating.”

·      Physical Evidence (PE) – words that describe the tangible aspect of the experiential product, such as the physical attributes and the facility of a listing, e.g., “Details like flowers, wine openers, britta water pitcher, shampoo, added to our relaxation.”

·      Service Process (PS) – words that emphasize the process where the traveler(s) received a service, with or without the interactions with the host, e.g., “[host name] left detailed instructions for us upon our arrival.”

·      Traveler (TR) – words that are irrelevant to the experiential product (Airbnb) itself, e.g., “We had ice cream for dessert two night in a row (Bi-Rite! The Best!) and walked home with our cones feeling very happy indeed.”  

The results

Travelers in both markets mentioned PT (about 26%) and PE (about 25%) most often, followed by PL (at about 19%) and PP (at about 15%). PS (less than 10%) was usually about the check-in process and how the hosts handled customer service issues. Travelers seldom talked about PO (about 2%) and PR (about 1%).

Research question two is to compare travelers’ experiences between multi-unit and single-unit hosts. We found almost no observable differences except that travelers would mention the hostnames more often for single-unit hosts. Such a finding suggests that multi-unit hosts are as competitive as single-unit hosts. Hoteliers should pay close attention to multi-unit hosts in the market because they are the micro-entrepreneurs and professional operators of home-sharing services.

Research question three is about the differences between superhosts and ordinary hosts. On average, listings managed by superhosts recorded more reviewers than the ones managed by ordinary hosts, a good indicator that travelers favor listings managed by superhosts. Travelers staying in the listings managed by superhosts commented more on their wonderful experience (PT) and the hosts (PP). In contrast those staying in the listings managed by ordinary hosts commented more on the physical evidence (PE) and the location (PL). Possibly, when travelers do not have as much to talk about PT and PP for ordinary hosts as they would for superhosts, they comment more on PE and PL instead.

COVID-19’s possible impacts on the research findings

COVID-19 is expected to change how people travel, and it will take a long time before we see a real recovery. Now more than ever, hygiene and cleanliness have become the top priority among consumers, hotels, and tourism companies. Travelers’ emphasis on the 7 P elements could have shifted in the post-COVID-19 era, such as about the upkeep and cleanliness of a place (PE) and avoiding direct human contacts (PP & PS).

The implications

Besides this study’s theoretical and methodological contributions, the results provide valuable insights for the hosts who want to compete with the superhosts. Meanwhile, hoteliers may refer to our findings as they seek improvement of their existing products or want to differentiate their products from home-sharing services. Lastly, we recommend the policymakers to consider restricting the professional operators or multi-unit hosts in the short-term residential rental market. 

What do you think about the research findings? To what extent does the 7 Ps marketing mix reflect travelers’ experiences of home-sharing services?

Note: This viewpoint article was also published on MultiBriefs.com; The first picture was downloaded from BibleMoneyMatters.com. 

CHRS 2017: Opportunities in the era of disruption

I was in Ithaca, New York, last week for the 2017 Cornell Hospitality Research Summit(#CHRS2017), where a good mix of industry professionals and academic researchers shared their viewpoints on the outlooks of the hospitality business and findings of relevant research.

This year, the conference's theme was "opportunities in the era of disruption."

So, what are the disruptions?

In fact, the hospitality industry is constantly facing challenges from disruptions. In today's economy, the following appears to be more salient:

• The advance of technologies, such as virtual reality, artificial intelligence (AI), facial recognition and data analytics, has transformed customer experience and is making innovative disruptions to operations.
• Airbnb brought new experiences to travelers, but also a tremendous supply of available rooms to the market almost overnight. Hotels are facing a big threat from room-sharing services and need to improve their practices in revenue management and asset management.
• Sustainability is going to become even more important in service operations even though not all consumers are willing to make extra effort for green products (yet).
• As hotels are responding to the changing needs of today's travelers, new brands/products are introduced to the market, with many still in construction. Newer properties also create threats to the older ones in the market.
• Managers should pay special attention to generation differences, such as the preferences of millennials.
• Online reviews and social media are still important, but not all generations pay attention to the same content or platform.
• Because OTAs (online travel agents) now have the business intelligence of both hotel sales and residential rentals, they should remain as an important strategic partner of hotels, even though hotels are pushing travelers to book-direct on their websites.
• There is a need for business to revamp their strategies in talent management as the industry is constantly being disrupted.

Remain positive when facing the disruptions

Shall we worry about the future because of these disruptions? We could, but feeling worrisome would not help business. Positive thinking is perhaps the only remedy to deal with challenges.

"Disruptions create opportunities," suggested Arthur Adler, the managing director and chairman of the Americas division of Jones Lang LaSalle's (JLL) Hotels and Hospitality Group, in the keynote opening session at #CHRS2017.

By reviewing the history of how the hotel business has evolved over time, Adler concluded that disruptions brought innovations to the industry (e.g., making reservations on the phone vs. on the internet). Rather than feeling worried about the future, we should all react to the new opportunities identified in the era of disruption.

New opportunities in the era of disruption

All attendees in the conference seemed to hold positive attitudes toward the disruptions. Particularly, the industry is highly encouraged to look at the following areas:

• Rethink guest experience and be innovative in product offerings.
• Utilize space more efficiently. For example, can a hotel's lobby or meeting space be "shared" as what is in the room-sharing and ride-sharing business?
• How can technology be used in providing customized service? For example, use AI and machine learning to predict guest preference.
• How can technology be better utilized in daily operations (e.g., making improvements in revenue management and productivity among staff members)?
• What can we learn from the room-sharing business?
• How can blockchain technology be used in the hospitality industry?
• What proactive approaches can be taken in sustainability? A good example in case is that the Romantik Hotel Muottas Muragl is running a lodging business in a "plus energy building," meaning a building is so energy-efficient that it generates more energy than it consumes.

Do you agree that opportunities are often associated with risks, or disruptions in this case? What opportunities do you see in the era of disruption?

Note: This post is also available on MultiBrief.com; The picture was downloaded from the Twitter account of The Hotel School at Cornell University. 

7 technologies that will transform the hospitality industry by 2025

I was in Baltimore last week for the annual iCHRIE (International Council on Hotel, Restaurant and Institutional Education) Conference, where hospitality professors and graduate students got together to showcase their research work and network with one another. Additionally, selected executives in major hospitality firms were invited to share their perspectives about the industry and their views on the future trends.

For example, Mike Webster, the senior vice president and general manager at Oracle Retail & Oracle Hospitality, spoke in the opening general session at the conference. He believed that by 2025, the following technologies would make transformational changes to the hospitality industry:

1. Wearables

Smartwatch sales in the global market hit a record high in the last quarter of 2016, at 8.2 million for the quarter and 21.1 million for the calendar year. Experts predict wearable tech will make transformational changes in the sport and fitness sector. Will wearable tech also transform how we run business in the hospitality and tourism industry?

Take the MagicBands at Disney, for example. Not only do they enable guests to enter the theme parks, purchase food and merchandise, and enjoy the FastPass+ access, but travelers can also skip the check-in line and unlock their hotel rooms with the MagicBands at the Disney resorts.

Disney will even ship the MagicBands to their guests before their arrivals. When guests link their accounts with the MagicBands, Disney can store their activities and preferences in the database to build a stronger customer relationship over time, of which the information can also be used to develop customized sales and promotion packages to the guests.

2. Facial recognition

It is not a new idea for hotels to let guests use their mobile devices as room keys. With the advance of facial recognition technology, travelers can possibly skip the front desk without carrying any mobile devices; they can access their guestrooms by just showing up.

Certainly, the advance of facial recognition technology can also make it easier for restaurants, hotels and resorts to track and analyze travelers' activities inside the facility.

In addition to their potential of enhancing customer service, wearable and facial recognition technologies can be used to improve back-of-the-house operations as well. For example, employees may use wearable devices and facial recognition technology in clock-ins and clock-outs. The data that is recorded about employees' activities at work can also be used by the management in scheduling and job designs.

3. Voice activation

Aloft Hotels, a Marriott/Starwood brand, recently unveiled voice-activated hotel rooms in Boston and Santa Clara. In a voice-activated room, guests can control the room temperature, adjust the lighting, choose what type of music they want to play in the room, and explore local attractions by talking to the room.

4. 3-D printing

The idea of using 3-D printing in construction has been tested for years. It may not seem real for a 3-D printer to create a skyscraper at this point, but it is now possible to construct a hotel room or at least, part of a hotel room with a 3-D printer.

As a matter of fact, Marriott has adopted the modular construction method to support its need for rapid growth.

Modular construction allows Marriott to build parts of the guestroom, such as the bathroom, somewhere else other than on the construction site of the hotel. When building a hotel, Marriott only needs to ship the ready-to-install bathrooms and other necessary parts of the guestrooms to the construction site. All it takes to build a hotel is to assemble the parts onsite.

The modular construction method and 3-D printing technology can hence be combined to speed up the time of building a new hotel.

5. Automatic or robotic services

Today, more service jobs are performed by machines than ever before. We have seen restaurants with no hosts, no waiters and no tables; robots are cooking food in the kitchen; and restaurant food is delivered by robots.

In the hotel industry, robotic butler service has also been introduced. There are also hotels testing automatic drink dispenser in events and guestrooms.

6. Artificial intelligence

Artificial intelligence allows machines to "think" like a real human being. Artificial intelligence will then enable a service provider to anticipate customers' needs even in automatic or robotic services.

7. Virtual reality

A few years ago, Marriott was experimenting with VR technology in operations, such as in sales and marketing. The hotel chain allowed guests to use VR to experience the Marriott products in selected world destinations. Likewise, Disney is planning to use VR to enhance consumers' experience in the theme parks and in video games.

A concluding remark

There is no doubt that the advance of technology will transform the way we run a hospitality business. Some jobs will be replaced by machines, but additional opportunities can also be created for those who are well-prepared for the changes.

Moreover, while the seven technologies listed above were suggested by Webster in the opening session at the conference, I elaborated upon his key points with specific examples I have observed in service operations. Hence, this is not intended to be a summary of his speech. Rather, I am hoping to get your input based on my own interpretations of Webster's ideas.

Do you also believe these technologies will soon transform the hospitality industry? If so, in what way? Are there other technologies that would also make transformational impacts to the hospitality industry by 2025 but have not been discussed in this post?

Note: This article was also published at MultiBriefs.com - the leading source for targeted, industry-specific news briefs. The picture was also downloaded from MultiBriefs.com.